Always a Pleasure
by Kiraiko
Summary: A quick shoot off from my FF "Freedom and Sacrifice" involving the introduction and interaction between the main character, Viveca Allaway, and Lorik Qui'in when she arrives on Noveria with Commander Shepard's team. OC insert.


There is nothing actiony about this, just to warn you, it is purely banter between my OC, Viveca Allaway, of my Fan Fic "Freedom and Sacrifice" and everyone's favorite fancy Turian, Lorik Qui'in

…...

In Port Hanshan, they didn't have the most warm of welcomes, and the Administrator certainly didn't improve things. "What an ass," Viveca muttered as they left Administrator Anoleis' office, rolling her blue eyes.

"He could definitely improve on his people skills," Garrus agreed from the other side of Shepard, who just sighed in a tired way.

"I'd rather just pound his ugly little face in," rumbled Wrex, walking behind the rest of them with his lumbering gait.

"It's always something," They kept walking, "At least we know that Benezia is here, or was here, at least. We need to find a way to get to Peak 15."

"Excuse me, Commander Shepard," It was the Administrator's assistant, her voice quiet. The four of them glanced at one another, and then wandered over, "Mr. Anoleis isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan you know." Shepard rose a brow at her and Gianni gave him a condescending smile, "You've never worked in the corporate world have you Commander? Being forceful rarely gets you what you want."

"So it would seem," Shepard said, forcing a polite smile, but he sounded exasperated, Viveca couldn't blame him. They were in a hurry, they were trying to catch Saren as fast as they could, but it seemed like every time they got on a trail, there was some one there to hang them up. "What, or who, will get me what I want?"

Gianni looked around, looking over her shoulder towards Anoleis' office, then leaned forward slightly, barely speaking above a whisper, "Talk to Lorik Qui'in," she told them, "You can find him at the hotel bar, he's there most of the time since his office got closed down."

"Closed down? For what?"

Gianni looked around again and shook her head, "I can't say anymore," she whispered, nodding her head in the direction of Anoleis' office, "Not in ear shot of Mr. Anoleis. Talk to Lorik, I'll find you later."

They left, walking across the courtyard, with it's stark but aesthetic atmosphere, complete with waterfall-like fountains. White collar employees mingled and hurried about their business and armed guards patrolled or stood at their posts. This was a very strange place. Everyone seemed nervous, but maybe that was just because there was a Specter around, and it was hard to keep secrets from a Specter. They found the elevator up to the hotel and crammed in, it was just a bit small for three people and a Krogan, but they made due. "Hey Viveca," Wrex rumbled, he was standing close to her left, so she had to crane her neck to look up at his scarred face, "I like the way you smell."

Viveca blinked and Garrus tried to hide his laughter by coughing, Shepard's shoulders shook as he just laughed silently instead. "Uh, thanks Wrex," She smiled. Figures, first male to hit on her in a while and it was a Krogan. She could do worse she supposed.

Finally the elevator stopped and they piled out of it, Viveca's face still a tad red, and trying hard not to make eye contact with Shepard or Garrus, who were still grinning. Wrex didn't get what was so funny.

Shepard stopped a passing waiter, "I'm looking for Lorik Qui'in," He said, and the boy pointed out a Turian sitting by himself at a table near by. The four of them walked over, Shepard in the lead, he opened his mouth to speak but Lorik beat him to it.

"Good afternoon," He greeted them, in a surprisingly friendly manner for a Turian, "Sit down, have a drink." Garrus and Viveca glanced at one another, maybe this guy had had a few too many drinks himself. She could really remember a Turian being so... personable. Even the nice ones tended to be a little rough around the edges or at least reserved.

"Ah, no, thank you," Shepard declined hesitantly, thrown off by the first friendly person they'd met since they arrived.

"Oh, well, what can I do for you then?" Lorik offered instead, leaning back in his chair and sipping at a drink.

Shepard and Lorik talked back and forth, Lorik being surprisingly helpful, answering most of their questions about Benezia, Saren, Binary Helix, and Noveria rather willingly. And then it came down to why they were there, a garage pass so they could leave Port Hanshan and drive through the blizzard to Peak 15. Viveca was not looking forward to that.

"I'm not surprised Anoleis is being... uncooperative," Lorik said carefully, his proper tone laced with dislike, "Of course, all the managers have access as well." He leaned forward in his chair and gave Shepard a pointed look. Time for the ole 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' routine. Lorik was polite for a Turian, but he was still a business man, he didn't do anything for free.

"I need your help to get out of Port Hanshan," Shepard told him.

"You're a Specter aren't you? How could an old Turian like me help you?" Lorik asked, spreading his hand in a questioning manner.

"I need a pass to get into the garage."

"How fortuitous," Lorik smiled, his mandibles clicking softly, "I'm the manager of the Synthetic Insights office here in Port Hanshan, for the moment at least. Therefor, I have just the pass you're looking for."

"What do you mean 'for the moment'?" Shepard asked him dubiously.

"Mr. Anoleis shut my office down," He said with a deep, forlorn sigh, "He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption." He leaned back in his chair and sipped his drink again, "The Director is an interesting man, wouldn't you agree? He's become quite wealthy since he took direct control of the rents."

"I sense a connection there," Shepard said with a knowing smile.

"Indeed?" Lorik returned the smile, his voice a deep rumble, "As do I." He leaned forward again, "I acquired evidence indicating Anoleis' corruption, when he found out, he shut down my office and sent his goons to ransack the place to locate it." He drained the last of his drink from the glass and set it on the table, "Go to my office, retrieve the evidence, and I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits as my own personal thanks."

"Do you have a plan?" Shepard asked, it sounded too good to be true in all honesty, but it was worth a shot.

"I do," Lorik rose a brow plate slowly, "However, there is one more... what's that charming human saying... 'fly in the... lotion'?" Viveca let out a soft, amused laugh, forcing herself to stop as Lorik looked at her, but he didn't seem annoyed, he just gave her a small shrug and a smile and kept going. What a strange Turian. "Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may be necessary."

"That's not a problem," Wrex rumbled, Garrus gave a smirk, his mandibles click softly.

Lorik rose his brow plates, "He has members of Hanshan security searching my offices, he's paying them under the table," He explained, "Miss Matsuo is unaware of the arrangement. She disapproves of outside contracts."

"If I have to kill the guards I'm afraid I can't help you," Shepard told him, "They're still the authority around here."

Lorik gave a soft, disappointed sigh, "True enough," he motioned for the waiter, then looked back to Shepard, "If you change your mind, I'll be here. I see no other options for you at present."

Shepard and the rest of them wandered off a ways, gathering together, "Well, what now?" Garrus asked with a sigh, "I was sure this was our solution."

"Me too, but I can't attack the Port guards," Shepard frowned, "We'll just have to find another way to get a garage pass, I'm going to ask around, the rest of you do the same. Surely there's some one else on this station willing to help us."

Viveca sighed as the rest of the team wandered off, she didn't move to join them. She was no good at talking to people in subtle manners, being a slave and then a terrorist hadn't exactly fostered her social skills, prison hadn't helped either. And then after that she'd just sort of avoided people. She wandered back towards the elevator, passing by Lorik as she did, glancing at him as she did.

"Excuse me," He said as she passed by, Viveca pausing to look at him curiously, "Perhaps _you_ wouldn't mind joining me for a drink? I'm getting rather tired of drinking by myself." He said, motioning to the empty chair on the other side of his table.

"You want me to have a drink with you?" she asked, raising her brows at him.

"Yes... is that some sort of taboo in human culture?" He asked with a frown, seemingly perfectly serious about the question.

Viveca laughed a bit, "No, it's not, it's just..." She didn't know how to say that he was a strange Turian for being so polite, or how to explain that generally among humans, a male asking a female to have a drink was sort of like making a pass. She was pretty sure that wasn't his intention, and didn't want to offend him so she just shrugged, "It's nothing. Sure, I'll have a drink with you."

"Excellent!" Lorik grinned, mandibles clicking, "Order whatever you like, I'll pay for it." He really seemed happy to have some company. He waved the waiter back over, "Bring the lady whatever she wants. What is your name, by the way?"

Viveca sat down, and blinked, taking the menu from the waiter and scanning the Lexo safe drinks quickly, "Uh... a bloody mary." She said, handing it back, he nodded and walked away, "And my name is Viveca."

"Very nice to meet you, Viveca, and a Bloody Mary? What an odd name... it doesn't really have blood in it does it?" Lorik asked with distaste.

Viveca laughed softly, "No, it doesn't, it's just red, like our blood. It's good, kind of spicy."

Lorik made a thoughtful noise, as if logging the information away, then looked at her, "Tell me, did I say that phrase wrong? The 'fly in the lotion'? You seemed very amused."

"Oh, well, it's technically 'ointment' not 'lotion' but they're basically the same thing," Viveca shrugged, "But it was just odd to hear a Turian say it."

"Yes, I supposed I can understand that, most of my species has no interest in learning anything about yours," Lorik nodded.

"You're very... polite, for a Turian," Viveca said tentatively, hoping she didn't offend him.

She didn't seem to though as he laughed softly, a deep rumbling noise in his chest, "Yes, I've been told that. I'm rather peaceful for one of my race. Of course, I went through the required military service like the rest of us, but guns and violence were never my thing. Thankfully I was still a bit too young to be in the military when the First Contact War occurred," he told her.

"Yes, I remember it," Viveca told him. She'd been young, but she could remember seeing it on the television, hearing her parents talking about it, really all the adults around her talked about it. It was all anyone had talked about. The first contact with an alien race, and it turned into a war. No one had been very hopeful about finding other species who didn't want to kill them.

Lorik blinked, "You do? How old were you?" He asked, then shook his head, "I'm sorry, I was told that it was very rude to ask a female human her age." He put up his hand, almost in surrender, "Forgive me."

Viveca laughed, "It's alright. Some one women do find it offensive, but I'm not so easily offended as most. I was six years old." She looked up as the waiter returned, handing her her drink, "Thanks." She sipped at it, surprised by how good it was.

"I see," Lorik murmured, "Well if I might say so, you look far younger than you are." He gave a charming smile, for a Turian, and Viveca felt the impulse to blush, but fought it off. Why should she blush over a simple compliment?

"Thank you, though you probably just have a hard time judging age with humans," she smiled.

"Possibly, but I don't see what bearing age has on beauty," Lorik smiled.

Viveca stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he had just hit on her or not. She licked her lips and looked away, tucking a copper-red curl behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, I've made you uncomfortable," Lorik sighed, "I'm afraid I'm very poor at talking with humans, most of them don't seem very interested in having an actual conversation with a Turian. They say what they need to, hear what they need to, and then go on their way." He frowned, looking genuinely apologetic.

"No, it's okay," Viveca smiled, and gave a small laugh that was only partially forced. "I'm just not very good at talking to people in general, Turian or not." She shrugged.

"You seem to talk to me just fine, most humans seem unnerved by us, or they just dislike us," he rumbled, sipping at his drink.

"You're far from the first Turian I've talked to," she shrugged, also sipping at her drink. This felt strange, just sitting here, having a drink and talking like this. Viveca hadn't been very social once she'd gotten out of prison, wary of people judging her for her past, and then with everything else that had happened... she'd ended up isolated much of the time. And in none of the relationships she'd ever had were they normal in that they could just go out and have a drink together.

"Is that so?" Lorik asked, breaking her thoughts.

"Yes," she smiled, "I uh.. actually, my ex boyfriend is a Turian." She said, thinking that he was likely the first person that she'd ever told herself.

Lorik blinked at her, his mandibles clicking in surprise, "Really? You dated a Turian?" He asked her, leaning forward slightly, "I'm surprised. I was under the impression we look hideous to most humans."

"Ah, well..." She cleared her throat and sipped at her drink, feeling that impulse to blush, "Yes, I suppose most humans do."

"I'm sorry, there I go, making you uncomfortable again," Lorik frowned. "So, ah... what happened with him?" He changed the subject a bit, but was obviously still curious about her having a relationship with a Turian.

"It... didn't work. He couldn't get past our differences," That was putting it mildly, but he didn't need to know that.

"I see... I'm sorry," Lorik said gravely.

Viveca smiled and shrugged, "It happens."

"Yes, it does. I myself never settled down," Lorik told her.

"Really? Finding a bond mate is so important to most Turians..." She said. Most Turians were under some amount of pressure from their families and superiors to find a suitable mate and have strong Turian babies to further their race. They mated for life, and often matches were arranged. Extra marital affairs weren't uncommon though, since there was no divorce as an option if the relationship turned sour.

"Yes, I know," Lorik sighed, then laughed, "My parents never let me forget it. But I was always far too busy with work, and most Turian females find me undesirable because I'm not a decorated war veteran. Military prowess plays a large part in our culture, as I'm sure you know."

Viveca nodded, "Yes, I do." Saren had also never found a bond mate, why she didn't know, he had never wanted to talk to her about it. He hadn't really ever wanted to talk to her about anything personal really. As long as they had been together and known one another, he had still very much been a stranger to her. Viveca drained the last of her drink and started to tell Lorik that she should go and find Shepard when the devil himself appeared.

"Viveca?" Shepard said curiously, looking between the red head and the Turian. She stood quickly, suddenly nervous that she maybe shouldn't have accepted the drink.

"So, Commander, did you find any alternative routes to getting your garage pass?" Lorik asked, saving her the trouble of some awkward explanation. She moved back to her place to Shepard's left, hoping he'd just forget about asking her.

Shepard sighed, "No, I haven't, so I've been thinking over your offer," He obviously didn't really like what he was about to say, "If I help you, you'll help me?"

"Of course, I'm a business man, Commander," Lorik lifted his glass slightly and nodded before sipping at the blue liquid and then setting it aside, "Get the evidence, and you will have my garage pass and an additional sum of credits."

Shepard sighed again, "I'll focus on getting your evidence, if I'm lucky, we won't have to kill anyone."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," Garrus muttered. Viveca smirked. Trouble did seem to follow Shepard wherever he went, things never went smoothly or according to plan.

"Excellent, here is the pass key to my office, it will activate the elevator and take you up," He handed the keys over and nodded, "The evidence is on my computer, this OSD contains the encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto execute."

"Thanks," Shepard nodded.

"No, thank you, and good luck," He said as they walked away, smiling at Viveca as they did.

They'd gone to the Synthetic Insights office, dealt with the crooked Hanshan security, and been on their way back when Gianni Parasini intercepted them, asking that they speak with her at the hotel bar before they handed the evidence over to Lorik. So they'd gone back, and found Gianni before going to Lorik. The Administrator's assistant had revealed herself to be an undercover Internal Affairs agent who was there to investigate Anoleis' corruption and find proof of it, and had asked them to try and convince Lorik to testify against him. Shepard sighed once Gianni left, "If it's not one thing it's another..." He muttered, glancing at his team before heading to Lorik's table.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, you've returned, how is the matter that I asked you to look into?" Lorik asked, glancing at Viveca and giving her a smile. She didn't return it, feeling a little nervous now that they were going to be asking him to testify against Anoleis.

"I have the evidence, but," He paused, and sighed, "an Internal Affairs agent contacted me, she wants you to testify against Anoleis." Shepard managed to sound calm and confident, even though Viveca knew he had to be tired of all these games. If only these people knew what they were trying to do, maybe they'd be more cooperative.

Lorik frowned deeply, and sat up in his chair, his mandibles clicking in irritation, "Now that you have my property you want to dictate how I use it?" He snapped at them, surprisingly angry. Or maybe just insulted. It was hard to tell. "I have no interest in a public spectacle."

"Everyone on this station is chafing under Anoleis' extortion, you'd be a hero to everyone here," Shepard tried to appeal to him. Viveca knew that wasn't going to work. She didn't know Lorik very well at all, but she could tell just from their brief conversation that he had a surprisingly low amount of ego for a Turian.

Sure enough, he scoffed, "My employers rely on the good will of the executive board to work here. Causing trouble with them doesn't help me in the slightest."

"But the Executive Board was already investigating Anoleis," Viveca spoke up. She disliked Anoleis a great deal, the little weasel was a pompous leech, people like him reminded her of the type of people who had no qualms with slavery, using people like they were nothing but expendable machinery that existed for the sole purpose of profit. Lorik looked at her, and visibly calmed a little. "You'd be helping them," She told him.

Lorik sighed and frowned, "Alright," He said, "It's obvious I cannot dissuade you. I will testify." He agreed with a nod. Viveca gave him a small smile, and let out a breath of relief. There, now everyone was happy. Lorik got his evidence, Gianni got her witness, and they got their garage pass. Though, that did mean they were going out in the blizzard now, which was not good news in Viveca's opinion. "Inform your contact to make the necessary arrangements."

Shepard nodded and walked away, Garrus and Wrex following him. "Viveca," She heard Lorik say his deep voice. She paused and looked at him, glancing over her shoulder to see Shepard and the others waiting for her at the elevator. "I'll catch up," she called, waving them on. They looked at one another, and then got on the elevator without her.

Viveca looked back to Lorik, who gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose my temper."

Viveca laughed, "If that's you losing your temper, then you have nothing to worry about." She told him with a smile.

"Yes... I suppose if you have been involved with a Turian you have likely seen just how bad our tempers can be at times," He sighed, "I dislike conflict."

Viveca didn't say anything about whether or not she knew about Turian tempers. She did, of course. Saren had once of the worst tempers she'd ever encountered, they had fought and argued more times than she could count. "It's fine, I can understand why you'd be annoyed."

"Thank you," Lorik inclined his head, "I was wondering, if ah..." He paused and cleared his throat, standing up from his chair. Viveca hadn't realized how tall he was, though she shouldn't be surprised, it seemed that most Turians were rather tall. She looked up at him, admiring how his white markings stood out against his dark brow face plates. His eyes were also dark for a Turian's, as they tended to be bright blues, greens, or golds.

"Hm," He cleared his throat again, "I was wondering if I could have your contact information? I'd like to keep in touch. I enjoyed our conversation. You're surprisingly open for a human, you don't mind if I say something out of line or ask a silly question about your race." He told her.

Viveca blinked at him, "Oh... ah..." she didn't see why she shouldn't, except the warning in the back of her mind, "I... sure."

Lorik smiled, "Yes? Wonderful," He pulled out a small, fiber glass card and handed it to her. "This is mine, just contact me with yours and let me know it's you."

Back downstairs, she caught up with Shepard and the others just in time to see Anoleis being dragged off by Gianni to finally have his corruption exposed. Viveca smiled in satisfaction, waving goodbye to the weasel. "What did Lorik want?" Shepard asked.

"Oh uh, he wanted my contact information," She said, all three men looking at her and raising their brows. "What? He's curious about humans, works with them a lot you know."

"Viveca," Garrus said with a chuckle, "That is not why he wanted your contact information."

Viveca frowned at him, "Is that so?"

"I'm a Turian, I know when I see a male Turian who is interested in a female, whatever species they might be," He told her before he walked away, Shepard and Wrex joining him.


End file.
